Timing device



M. H. RHODES 2,271,953

TIMING DEVICE Feb.- 3, 1942.

2 sneets-shet 2 Filed Aug. l, 1940- .Flea I IIE.

mama/,1l Mw Patented Feb. 3,-1'942 'mums DEVICE Marcus H. Rhodes,Hartford, Conn., assigner to M. H. Rhodes, Inc., Hartford, Conn., acorpo.-

ration of I )elaware l Application ugust 1, 1940, Serial No. 349,120

4 Claims.

j This invention relates totiming devices, and with regard to certainmore lspecific features, to 'coin-controlled timing devices forindicating the ,passage of a purchased .lengthof time, as for parkingautomobiles or the like.

Among the several objects of the invention I may benoted the provisionof a coin-controlled timing device 'of the adapted. to indicate at alltimes what portion of a purchased length of time' has passed; theprovision 'of a .device of the class described which yautomaticallybegins operation upon the deposit of a coin therein; the provision of adevice of theclass indicated in which the user is not required to windthe timing mechanism or other- Wise set the'device; the provision of adevice of the class indicated which, during the period of time which hasbeen purchased, displays the coin employed in setting. but does not sodisplay it after-the A.purchased time has been exhausted; and theprovision of a device ofthe class described which issubstantiallyfool-proof in operationl simple in construction andwhichmay be economically made. Other objects will be in part obvious and inpart pointed out hereinafter.

The'inventionaccordingly comprises the elements g and combinationsofelements, features of construction, and arrangements of parts which willbe exemplied. in the structures hereinafter ldescribed, and the vscopeof" the application of which will be indicated in the. following-claims.

` In the accompanying drawings in 'which arer illustrated one of variouspossible embodiments I ofthe invention, ,Fig. 1y is a front elevation of'a device embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a right side elevation; Fig. 3 is a rear elevation;

Fig. 4. is a sectioneon an enlarged scale taken l along the line I-J inFig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a section alsojon an enlarged scale taken along the line 5-5in Fig. 1;

Fig, s is s section taken along me une 6;-6 mi Fig. 5;

igl 7 is a partial section similar to Fig. 4 showing a differentposition of the device; and,

-Fig. 8 isa section similar ,to Fig. 7, butshow- 'ing a stilldifferent-position of the device.

. Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughoutthe severalviews of the drawings.

The device of the present inventionis particu- 'larly adapted for use as-a so-called` parking meter, which is usually installed in connectionwith vdesignated parking spaces class described which is for automobiles55 along the curbs of citystreets. The timing device itself is usuallymounted on apost on the curb in proximity to the designated parkingspace. The device is adapted to receive a coin 5 from a person parkinghis automobile in the designated space. and has meansthereonfr-indicating .a duration or period of time correspond` ing tothe length of timea person is entiftled or e park in the designatedspace in return 10 value of a coin presented.

invention isthat it begins operation immediately upon the deposit of acoin therein, and there is no' setting operation or winding required ofthe parker. e

Referring now to the drawings, numeral l indicates a rectangular casingwhich has a semicircular top portion. The top part of the front ofcasing has a circular opening 2 preferably holding a glass. Back of thisis :a scale 3,-upon which .are figures toindicate the amount of parkingtime received in exchange for thel coin deposited. In front ofthe scaleand movable thereover' by the clockwork mechanis is apointer I,which,'upon initiatingl operation of thev device, rotates to indicate atall times the amount of the purchased time remaining. Pointer l 'isattached toa shaft 5 which is rotated by the clockwork mechanism. Theback of the device. is preferably 3o provided withl viewing disc 6arranged opposite the place where the coin is h eld during operation ofthe device, and also with an appropriate lock, such as a screw lock 1.Referringl now to Fig. 4, the device has, a coin 35 slot` 8 forreception of a coin shown at 9. The coin 9, after insertion, drops downa chute Il until it contacts member l-i. Member Il projectssufficiently.l far into vthe coin*v lslot I0 as shown at I2,.`to haltthe descent of coin 9. Mem- 4o ber Il preferably is' counterweighted, asshown at il, to help to balance the weight o f the coin. VMember IIlikewise has a located outside of the chute'which has an opening i5.therein which cooperates with a yrod I6 45 to control the timingmechanism indicated generally -at II. e l

Operating rod IB is arranged so that when the member Il is in theposition shown in Fig. 4, that is, with no coin resting thereupon. 'the.50. clockwork mechanism Il is not in operation.

However, when member I'I has been depressed by the weight of a coinrestingthereupon, lever I8 is positioned so that the clockwork mecha--nism operates.

The clockwork One of the principal features of the present triangularportion Il mechanism is preferably of the lat loi' the rod I6.

type which does not require frequent winding; that is.,it has a largecapacity for storing energy supplied by winding. Winding means is shownLikewise attached to shaft 5 is a member I9 having a. cam attachedthereto. Member I9 and cam 2U are positioned so that cam 20 contacts theportion I4 of the member II only near the end of the time period.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 6, openings 22 and 23 in scale 3 areshown in Fig. 1. Behind these is located a colored rectangle 24, whichis colored green in the segments numbered 25 and 26, and red in thesegment 21. The portion of the case behind the openings 22 and 23 islikewise painted red. Rectangular memberv 24 is mounted upon a rod 28attached to rod I6 to be movable therewith.

I'he operation of the device is as follows:

A coin 9 is inserted into coin slot 8, and drops into coin chute I0. Itsfall is arrested by member II, more particularly by the portion I2 ofthis member, aided by the counterweight I3 and spring 38 attached to thecase I. The Weight of .the coin is suicient to move the member II,

including the portion I4 and the cooperating rod I6. The movement of rodI6 likewise moves rod 28 and the rectangular member 24, which has beenin the solid-line position, assumes the dotted line position shown inFig. 6. The eiect of this last is that the openings v22 and 23, which,

while the device was not operating, had shown red, now show green. 'I'heclockwork I1 now operates, it having been started by the movement MemberI9 carrying cam 2li, thereupon rotates from the position shown in Fig. 4ina clockwise direction until it assumes the position shown in Fig. '7.Pointer 4 is of course at the same time rotating over dial 3 togradually show expiration of the purchased parking time.

When member 'I9 has reached the position shown in Fig. 7, the pointer isindicating that there is only a little more than five minutes of timeremaining.- Continued operation of the timing means I 'I brings the camportion 20 of member I9 into contact 'with the portion I4 `of member II.This moves member II out of enbe removed from chute I Il, and permit'thesecond lcoin to drop into position, restarting the cycle.

l Accordingly, a parker who Wishes'to avoidthe necessity of returning atthe end of `a comparatively short time, may deposit two coins at thesame time. One will initiate' operation of the device and continue lthisoperation throughout the purchased period of time, the second remainingin reserve to come into operation as soon as the time purchased by thefirst one has been exhausted. In addition, the parker is not subjectedto the necessity for returning to the device precisely when the timepurchased by his first coin 'has become exhausted, in order to avoidapenalty for overtime parking. In fact, it has been found that parkerswill return a short time before theirpurchased period has beenexhausted, reset the device, and thus avoid the necessity of calculatingprecisely when their time will be- This is wasteful-of the timepurchased by the parker, and thepresent device completely gone.

does not require such a procedure. The parker may deposit an additionalcoin at any time be fore the originally purchased time has becomeexhausted. The coin will be held away from the mechanism until thepurchased time is gone,

and will then immediately come into operation to continue operation ofthe' device. The parker legitimately in need of a longer parking periodthan that prescribed by ordinance-may if able to locate a meter not inoperation (coin dropped) insert two coins and obtain twice the ordinanceperiod. However in actual practice he will sel'- 1 dom find a meterstopped but ystill may deposit a coin', thereby obtaining thebalance ofthe previous parkers unexpired time plus a full ordinance time.

Y, In order toassist the counterweigh't I3 in providing sulcientresistance to hold the coin sus-I pended opposite the viewing window 6,a spring gagement with coin 9, and permits coin 9 to continue itsjourney down through coin chute III and into permanent container 2|.4The cam 20 is shaped, however, so that it continues to contact theportion I4 Aof member II and thereby continue the operation of thetiming means 'II because of the positioning of rod IB. This `contact ofcam 20 with the portion I4 of member I`I continues until the Fig. 8position of the parts is. reached. The pointer at this time has returnedto zero, and the cam 281s just'ready to release theportion I4 of memberII.

As soon asmember II is released, it returns to its Fig. 4 position,releasing rod I6 and permitting the latter to stop the timing mechanismI1.

j 4 Thissame operation, by means of rod 28, moves rectangle 24 from `thedotted-line positionshown in Fig. 6 to the solid-line position, ings 22and 23 thereupon show red.

Member II has a projecting portion 29, which in the Fig. 4 position islocated out of the 'coin chute I0. However, vthe weight of a coinresting upon member II at I2, moves the member I'I so that theprojecting portion 2 9 is located'inside.

the chute I0. This prevents two coins from occupying the chute ,I0 atthe same time, but a and the opene second coin 9 may be inserted in thecoin slot 75 tional coin at any 38 is preferably provided. When themember II passes from the Fig. 4 position to the Fig. 7 position uponthe deposit of a coin, it will be noted that the member II contactsspring 30.

' This aids in preventing movement of member II to a positionsuiliciently far as to permit the coin to continue on downlchute I 0before the purchased time has substantially elapsed. Upon re- 'lease ofthe ,.ortion I4 of member II by cam 20,

the spring likewise assists member II in returning toits Fig. 4position.

The present device,4 it will be noted, requires no operation .bytheparker, except-the depositof a coin. It thus avoids improper settingbecause of a willful desire to cheat'the device.

'I'here is no opportunity to attempt a partial setting with theintention lof returning at a subsequent time, completing the setting,and thus obltaining from 'themunicipality a. period of time which hasnot ,been paid for.v In -addition the present device will be morefavorably received by the parking public since one need not returntodeposit another coin at precisely the point when his previous time hasbecome exhausted,

but on the contrary, he can deposit an addit time, and yet still receivefull value for h1s money. A This last is not true where However, as soonas the cam 20 re-l it. was necessary to re-setvthe device upon thedeposit o f another coin-since such re-setting operation inevitablywastes the unused portion 'of the purchased time, and smacks of anavariy.

cious desire 'on the part'of the municipality to `it extract every pennypossible from 4the public by not permitting thev public to have theunused time found left by a previous parker.

in `view of the above, it win .be seen that the several objects of theinvention are achieved and 1 .other advantageous results attained.

As-.many changes could lbe made in the above constructions withoutdeparting vfrom the scope .ofthe invention, it is intended thatall'matter i contained in the above description or shown'in 15 theaccompanying drawings shall be interpreted -as illustrativeand.` not ina llimiting sense.

Wnetis claimed is: i l. A timing device comprising a casing. clockmechanism 'therein,an exposed relatively mov- 20A able dial andindicating means for indicating-the Y passage of a. predeterminedperiod'of time, the movable member being driven by said clock mechanism;an elongated chute having at its lower part a temporary coin holder,said coin 9 5 holder including mechanical means actuated by the weightof a coin for initiating bperetien and-I stopping of the indicatingmeans upon the exe piration of said predetermined period oi'` time,

and means at'the'upper part of said chute con- Y nected with saidmechanical means for preventing access of a second coin to the temporarycoin holder at the lowerpart of said chute, said clock mechanismactuating said mechanical means to release thecoin therein from thetemporary coin holder just prior to theexpira'tion of the `predetenninedtime and'admi't a second coin to the' temporary `coin holder without\stopping theA clock mechanism.

`2. Atiming device of the character set forth in claim 1 in which themechanical meansand eoin release will stop theeieck mechanism ir asecond coin is-not inserted in the chute.

3. A timing device of the. character .set forth l in claim 1 in whichthe means and coin release Y will stop theclock mechanism if a secondcoin is not inserted in the chute, said means including

